Merchant fleet grows rapidly

Press, 6 July 1977, Page 20

Merchant fleet grows rapidly

By

ANDREW WILSON

in London

From twenty-sixth position in the world's merchant fleet table in 1950, the Soviet Union has climbed to sixth place, measured by deadweight tonnage, and second by the number of ships. This remarkable growth, together with that of the Soviet fishing fleet, is the subject of a gloomy analysis published by the Londonbased Institute for the Study of Conflict, “Soviet Sea Power: The Covert Support Fleet.”.

The study, by David Rees, a senior research fellow of the institute, says that the present Soviet Five-Year Plan aims at expanding deadweight tonnage by one-fifth to 18.4 million by the end of 1980, when the Soviet Union will deploy approximately 2000 freighters on the world’s oceans. Under the same Five-Year Plan the Soviet Union is also increasing the capacity of

important harbours, including those at Novorosiisk Tuapse, Uychevsk and Archangel. Up to 90 per cent of the loading and unloading will be mechanised. Measures are also being taken to extend navigation on the Arctic route, ship-repair facilities will be developed — especially in the Far East and Black Sea.

Among the new vessels being added to the fleet are 150,000-ton tankers, sideloading ships, containerships and other specialised craft. So great is the demand that a number of vessels are being bought from French, British, West German, Finnish and Japanese yards, in addition to those of Eastern Europe. The Soviet expansion contrasts with a period of comparative stagnation in Western merchant fleets. The Soviet Union also has an advantage in that two-thirds

of its merchant ships are less than 10 years old, and systematic rate-cutting (often 2040 per cent below those of the West) has increased its foreign freight business by 250 per cent since 1971. Some 60 per cent of Soviet deep-sea freight carrying is for foreign customers. One method used by the Russians to penetrate Third World freight markets is to set up joint-stock companies in Third World countries. For example, in the first half of 1976 the joint Soviet-Filipino Shipping Company earned $l2 million profits. As a result, Thailand, which handled 40 per cent of its own shipping in the early 19705, saw its percentage drop to six per cent in the last half of 1975. But the main reason for Soviet success in world freight markets is that Russian seamen are paid less than their Western counterparts — in non-convertible roubles — and that Soviet blinker oil costs only a

quarter of the price of Western oil.

The growth of the Soviet fishing fleet has been no less dramatic. According to Lloyds Register of Shipping (1976) the Soviet Union has 4219 fishing vessels of over 100 tons, compared with Japan’s 3149. If small trawlers are included, it has more than one-third of the world’s fishing fleets. Contributing to the size of the current annual catch (about 15 per cent of all fish caught in the waters of the world) is the huge fleet of Soviet factory ships — 1000 of them in the 2000-ton category or larger, compared with 75 Japanese and two American.

The survey observes that in addition to helping the Russians to dominate world trade routes and fishing areas, the mercantile fleet provides an important addition to Russia’s expanding military potential. — 0.F.N.5., Copyright.